Chapter 924: Sending Grain Home

The grain in these three storehouses contained a bit of everything, but the vast majority was still corn and sorghum.

After all, in this era, corn and sorghum were the highest-yielding crops and the most important staples for the locals.

The grain Wang An had left behind was also primarily composed of these two.

Furthermore, when used as livestock feed, these two were the cheapest options.

It had to be said that the "hat brothers" of this era were truly efficient at work; thirty to forty thousand catties of grain were all weighed in no time using a few pole scales.

Among them, there were slightly over 14,200 catties of corn, slightly over 12,400 catties of sorghum, over 4,200 catties of legumes such as soybeans and black beans, over 1,200 catties of miscellaneous grains and beans like millet, broomcorn millet, red beans, and cowpeas, and the remaining 3,300-plus catties were rice and wheat.

Of course, there were also about 600 catties of processed grains, such as sorghum rice, millet, cornmeal, and yellow broomcorn meal.

As for processed refined grains like white rice and white flour, there wasn't a single catty left.

Clearly, those had all been eaten by Wei Cheng and the others.

Wang An kept 7,000 catties of corn, 2,000 catties of sorghum, and 500 catties each of rice and wheat. Finally, Wang An also kept all 600-plus catties of the processed grains.

It had to be admitted that interpersonal relationships, no matter the era, were exceptionally important and could not be ignored.

When Wang An had previously told Zhang Shuya that he wanted to leave some grain behind, both Wang An and Zhang Shuya had intended to handle it strictly by the book.

In other words, both of them thought the grain should be paid for exactly by the catty, based on the market price.

Essentially, they just didn't want to take advantage of the public fund, nor did they want to suffer a loss.

However, when this logistics officer was calculating the bill for Wang An, he gave him a significant discount out of respect for Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian.

He calculated the rice and wheat entirely at the price of corn and sorghum.

As for the 600-plus catties of processed grains—the cornmeal, sorghum rice, yellow broomcorn meal, and millet—he only increased the price by 2 cents per catty over the price of raw corn kernels.

When the final bill was tallied, Wang An only had to pay 373.4 yuan. In other words, Wang An saved a full 70-odd yuan!

Wang An was now a "hat brother" himself, so after a moment's thought, he hopped on his sidecar motorcycle and rode to the township's supply and marketing cooperative.

He spent 14 yuan to buy four cartons of classic Bingcheng cigarettes and another 12 yuan to buy four bundles of soda. Only then did Wang An ride the sidecar back to the courtyard.

Based on the number of people on site, two packs of classic Bingcheng per person were a must. Additionally, since moving grain was hard work, it was absolutely necessary for everyone to have two bottles of soda.

As for the two company commanders and the logistics officer, Wang An secretly slipped each of them two extra packs.

Logically, Wang An should have given more to the logistics officer, but he didn't do so.

Because the logistics officer had given him a convenience based on the faces of Zhang Shuya and Sun Nian; Wang An had no need to flatter him. Doing "about enough" was sufficient.

Under Sun Nian's orders, all the hat brothers accepted the cigarettes and soda Wang An provided, and each of them looked genuinely happy.

As the old saying goes, "one's mouth is short after eating, and one's hand is soft after taking," so the group of hat brothers was exceptionally friendly toward Wang An, their new colleague.

Under Sun Nian's arrangement, the hat brothers first loaded the ten-thousand-plus catties of grain Wang An bought onto a large truck.

Then, with Wang An leading the way on his sidecar, the truck followed him to Wang An's house.

Hearing the roar of the truck and the unique, fart-like sound of the sidecar, Mu Xueqing, Wang Yi, and the two little girls all ran out of the house.

Seeing Wang An in his police uniform and the group of hat brothers jumping off the truck, Mu Xueqing and Wang Yi were momentarily shocked into silence.

The two little girls, who had been running toward him, also couldn't help but stop in their tracks. They didn't pounce on Wang An and ask for a hug from their big brother as they usually did.

Seeing the reactions of these four, Wang An found it quite amusing. With a beaming smile, he stepped forward, patting the small heads of the two sisters while saying

"What's this? You don't recognize your big brother anymore? Hahahaha!"

As he spoke, Wang An picked up the two sisters, one in each arm.

It wasn't until Wang An spoke that Mu Xueqing snapped out of her shock and instinctively asked

"Xiao An, what's going on? Whose clothes did you borrow to wear home?"

Wang An never expected Mu Xueqing to say something like that. Just as he was about to speak, Wang Yi, who had also recovered, smiled and said

"Big brother, this outfit looks great on you. You look so handsome."

To be fair, wearing the peaked cap, a well-fitting police uniform, and military boots, Wang An did look quite the part.

Wang An gave Wang Yi a smug smile, then said cheerfully to Mu Xueqing

"What do you mean 'borrowed clothes'? I'm a legitimate security company member now, the kind that earns a monthly salary, hahahaha... Don't I look pretty sharp?"

Mu Xueqing wanted to say more, but a hat brother who had jumped off the truck suddenly shouted from the side

"Brother Xiao An, which room should we unload the grain into?"

Hearing this, Wang An quickly called back in response, then turned back to Mu Xueqing

"We'll talk tonight. I bought some grain, I'll go unload it first."

After speaking, Wang An set the two little sisters down on the ground and turned to run toward the truck.

Since Wang An didn't know these people's names and the hat brothers were all quite busy, he didn't give Mu Xueqing a brief introduction.

Under Wang An's direction, the truck stopped at the door of the east wing. Wang An then took off his short-sleeved shirt and began hauling grain into the storehouse with the hat brothers.

He had to take it off. This was a newly worn shirt, and more importantly, it was the only one he had—he didn't even have a spare to change into.

If he wore it while hauling grain and got it filthy, he wouldn't be able to show it off to his parents anymore.

Including Wang An, a total of fifteen young men unloaded the truck together. Their speed was impressive; the ten-thousand-plus catties of grain were all unloaded in just about twenty minutes.

After unloading, Wang An wanted to invite the hat brothers inside for a drink of water, but they didn't even enter his house.

Left with no choice, Wang An simply handed out a cigarette to each of them and said a few words of thanks, after which they all got back on the truck and departed.

After seeing off the hat brothers, Wang An simply wiped down his upper body, hopped on his sidecar, and headed back toward the township once more.

*** Thank you "Liu Tiegang" for the tip, thank you, thank you!

(End of Chapter)